“So, instead the productive should be left to die?”
No, nobody should be left to die but even the rich will die like flies if sick poor people are forced to wander the streets and die. It’s like closing public toilets to save money and then wondering why the poor are suddenly peeing all over your million dollar buildings. People don’t simply disappear in civilized society.
But hey, you can keep things efficient, cost effective and clean with jail cities and crematoriums. Those Germans used to be masters of efficiency!
“I can’t count how many stories I have heard or people who have said they will allow an illness to progress and allow themselves to die before they bankrupt their families.”
That’s noble but I but nobody should be forced to make that choice in a society as advanced as ours. We have the technology and knowledge to make healthcare universal, effective and efficient. We just don’t have the culture yet but we are about due for a lesson..
People are having it made for them every day with Obamacare.
How many people are skipping yearly screenings, tests, etc. because no one can even afford to go to the doctor any more? Many. And they can't even afford to think about the costs, if, god forbid, it requires more tests, more procedures, etc.
But sure the crazy guy on the street self medicating and addicted, gets picked up once a year, thrown into jail or rehab and gets a full medical screening. They'll catch his prostate cancer early and it will be treated 100% by the taxpayer. You know, the guy skipping his screening because he's got tuition and books to pay for for his kid or a mortgage to pay.
But, we can feel good about it how benevolent we are in the process.